Campus Corner: Solley, McGary on Hot Streaks; Shadeck Meets NCAA Provisional Time in 400 Hurdles Win

BRADFORD, Pa. – Curwensville Area High School graduates Phil Solley of Grampian and Bart McGary of Curwensville wielded hot bats for the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford baseball team last week as the Panthers jumped into the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference playoff picture with five wins in six games and were 5-3 overall.

 

Solley boosted his average to .350 with 11 hits in 25 trips to the plate, while McGary climbed to .319 with seven hits in 14 official at-bats. They are sophomores.

 

Solley also drove in seven runs, scored six runs, drew five walks, was hit by a pitch and stole two bases. He started seven games in right field and the other behind the plate.

 

Solley rapped three hits in a 9-7, 10-inning loss to Lake Erie College, three in an 8-4 loss to Fredonia (N.Y.) State and two in a 7-1 win over Lake Erie.

 

In the second game of a 6-1, 6-4 sweep against Mount Aloysius, Solley had a two-run single to put the Panthers ahead 4-3 and then scored what proved to be the deciding run in the fifth inning.

 

For the season, the sophomore is second on the team in batting average, hits (28), RBIs (21) and walks (14) and third in runs (18) and total bases (36).

                                  

McGary started three games at third base and one at first base and came off the bench to pinch-hit in one game and play at third in another.

 

He drove in three runs and scored a pair. His season totals include 23 hits, 14 RBIs and 12 runs scored.

 

After starting 0-6 and still resting in ninth place at 3-7 on April 14, Pitt-Bradford (15-16) is 8-8 in the AMCC, tied for fifth place. Six of the 10 teams will make the post-season tourney.

 

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LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – James Zimmermann of Woodland (Clearfield Area H.S.) collected four hits in six games for the Lock Haven University baseball team last week.

 

The freshman second baseman belted one double and drove in a pair of runs for the Bald Eagles, who dropped a twinbill to Millersville and split a pair of double-headers with Clarion.

 

He has started 26 games and played in six others for the 15-29 Bald Eagles, who are 5-11 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division.

 

Zimmermann\’s average is .253 with 21 hits, 11 RBIs and 12 runs scored.

 

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GREENSBURG, Pa. – Senior left fielder Andrew Kirsch of Clearfield had two hits in four games for Seton Hill University in a week that the Griffins were knocked out of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Northern Division baseball race with four losses to Pitt-Johnstown.

 

He homered for the first time this season and drove in the tying and go-ahead runs for the Griffins in their lone win of the week, 6-4 over non-conference opponent Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

 

Kirsch has played in 37 games, starting all but two, and is hitting .284 with 31 hits, including seven doubles and two triples, and 24 runs batted in.

 

Seton Hill (21-22) finished its first season in the WVIAC at 8-8 to trail UPJ (12-4) and Shepherd (10-6).

 

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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Freshman Adam Jury of Bigler (Clearfield Area H.S.) made the most of his two opportunities for Slippery Rock University\’s baseball team last week, highlighted by his first two runs batted in.

 

Jury came off the bench to produce three hits in four at-bats as a designated hitter and pinch-hitter, raising his season average to .409.

 

In 13 games, nine as a starter, he has nine hits in 22 at-bats.

 

Slippery Rock (21-17) traded double-header sweeps with Indiana and fell to fourth place in the PSAC-West, one spot out of the playoffs. California leads at 11-5, followed by IUP and Shippensburg at 10-6 and SRU at 9-7.

 

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CLARION, Pa. – Dana Johnson of Grampian (Curwensville Area H.S.) had her best week of her freshman season by hitting safely in three of four games she played for the Clarion University softball team.

 

With her four hits in 12 at-bats, Johnson hiked her average to .171. She was the Golden Eagles\’ designated hitter in three games and the catcher in another.

 

Johnson has seven hits and three RBIs in 16 games.

 

Clarion was swept by Edinboro, California and Indiana to fall to 0-16 in the PSAC-West and 3-24 overall.

 

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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Nikki Collins of Clearfield had three hits, one a double, and drove in two runs in eight games for the Slippery Rock University softball team last week.

 

The freshman second baseman started in seven games and pinch-ran in the other as The Rock went 4-4 to reach the 20-win plateau for an unprecedented fourth year in a row.

 

SRU is 22-14 with a 4-12 mark in the PSAC-West after losing double-headers to California and first place Lock Haven and sweeping Edinboro.

 

Collins has started all but one of The Rock\’s games and is hitting .242. She has 16 hits, six of them doubles, nine RBIs and 15 runs scored. 

 

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LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Brittany Pataky of Clearfield singled for an RBI in one of her two appearances as a pinch-hitter and was the first baseman in another game for the Lock Haven University softball team last week.

 

The freshman\’s batting average is .333 for 20 games, including 11 starts.

 

Pataky has 10 hits, three of them doubles, six RBIs and three runs scored.

 

Lock Haven, ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division II, sits atop the PSAC-West at 11-1 and is 30-6 for the season.

 

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BEREA, Ohio – Slippery Rock University\’s Nate Shadeck of Frenchville (Clearfield Area H.S.) beat the NCAA provisional time for the 400-meter hurdles with his win in the Paul \”Sparky\” Adams Track and Field Invitational hosted by Baldwin & Wallace College at George Finnie Stadium Saturday.

 

The Rock junior hit the finish line in a season-best 53.71 seconds, nearly two seconds ahead of the runner-up. The NCAA provisional qualifying time is 54 seconds.

 

He now has three wins and two seconds in his specialty during the outdoor season.

 

Shadeck also was a member of the SRU 4×100 relay team that won in 41.79 seconds and anchored the 4×400 relay foursome that placed third in 53.84.

 

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NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – Westminster College junior Rebecca Shiner of Clearfield finished a strong second in the 800-meter run at the 11-team Westminster Track and Field Invitational in Harold Burry Stadium Saturday.

 

The Titan\’s time of 2:21:82 was more than three seconds faster than the third place finisher in the 29-runner race.

 

Shiner also ran the second leg for the Westminster 4×400 relay team that was victorious in a season-best 4:07.13.